Twitter corrects follower numbers

Twitter users have seen an average drop in followers of about 10 per cent

Many Twitter users woke up this morning to find that they had shed a number of followers, after the site's managers ran a big clear out last night.

A post on the micro-blogging site's status page revealed that the correction was designed to fix disparities that had arisen between displayed follower counts, and the actual number of followers in some accounts.

"A consequence of this change is that follower counts will drop for some people," the company wrote. "Those with large followings may see significant changes as we correct for spam accounts and data inconsistencies. No legitimate followings should be affected. We are just cleaning up artefacts in the system. "

The Twittersphere has been buzzing with news of the action, and many have questioned why they suddenly had a significant drop in followers. 'Twitter Correcting' has already become the top trending topic.

The average drop seems to be about 10 per cent, but the figures vary quite widely. The company also said that it is "soon to push a change that will address this issue".